Doorframe



y 1956 F. H. WALTERMAN ETAL 2,755,895

DOORFRAME Filed Nov. 15. 1952 IN V EN TOR5 United States Patent Ofice 2,755,895 Patented July 24, 1956 DOORFRAME Fredrick H. Walterman and John P. Malmrose, lll., assignors to Kewanee Manufacturing Kewanee, 11k, a corporation of Illinois Kewanee, Company,

Our invention relates to doorframes and more particularly to doorframes of steel or other suitable metal.

In providing a prefabricated doorframe of metal it is common to provide the frame with edge panels which overlap and protect the adjacent edge of the plaster or dry wall construction. In order to provide a neat appearance, the edges of the metal frame should fit closely against the face of the plaster or dry Wall GOBStruction. Difficulty has been encountered in utilizing such frames with dry wall constructions because of the different thicknesses of the sheets of material of which dry walls .are constructed. If the metal frame is made with an edge construction adapted to receive the thickest dry wall sheet, then a gap is present when the frame is used with a dry wall constructed of thinner sheets. While such a gap can be filled with plaster or other suitable material, this is time-consuming and expensive, and furthermore the plaster filler sometimes cracks and falls out and leaves an unattractive and dirt-collecting opening.

An object of our invention is to provide a new and improved metal frame which automatically compensates for variations in the thickness of the sheets used in the dry wall construction.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a section of a metal doorframe embodying our invention; and

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the application of our novel doorframe to dry wall constructions of different thicknesses.

The metal doorframe is preferably constructed in three pieces consisting of vertical side pieces and a horizontal top piece as described in our prior application Serial No. 259,786, filed December 4, 1951, Patent No. 2,660,272, issued November 24, 1953, although for purposes of our present invention the particular number of pieces, and the manner of securing the variou pieces together where they join in the assembled doorframe, are immaterial. While our novel doorframe is preferably constructed of light material, and the door hung directly upon the wooden door buck, this feature also is not essential to our present invention.

Our novel doorframe comprises a centrally located longitudinal rib having opposing sides 12 and 14 either of which is capable of serving as a door stop. Beyond the sides 12 and 14 are planar panels 16 and 18 which, in the particular form shown, are of equal Width, the width of each of these panels being approximately equal to the thickness of a standard door for the interior wall of a home or oil-ice building. While we have found it desirable for certain purposes to make these panels 16 and 18 of equal width, this is not essential to our invention which may be incorporated in doorframes where these panels are of unequal width.

Outside of the planar panels 16 and 18 are the corner panels 24 and 22 having free edges 24 and 26 respectively which are reinforced by bending the metal back upon 2 itself. Integral with the corner panels are longitudinally extending attached strips 28 and 30 which are adapted to be attached directly to the sides of the wooden 2 x 4 32 by means of nails 34 or other suitable attaching means. It will be noted that the attaching strips 28 and 30 are designed to have portions directly contacting the sides of the 2 x 4 and the planar panels 16 and 18 also directly abut the 2 x 4 32 so that our novel doorframe can be attached directly to a conventional dQ r buck without going to the trouble and expense of adding additional wooden strips or other fillers thereto. Furthermore, this construction facilitates supporting the door directly on the wooden door buck so that our doorframe can be made of light metal since it need not carry the Weight of the door.

The attaching strips 28 and 30 are connected to the reinforced edges of the corner strips by curved portions 36 and 38 which form therewith rearwardly opening diverging pockets that are designed automatically to compensate for variations in thickness of the dry wall panels. In present building practice the sheet material used for constructing dry walls comes most commonly in sheets A, and /2" thick, and in Fig. 2 we have illustrated the manner in which our novel construction automatically compensates for these several different thicknesses. In the upper part of Fig. 2 we have shown a sheet 40 of 1" material and the manner in which this sheet extends a relatively great distance into the pocket provided between the curved portion 36 and the free edge 24 of the door frame. Because of this deep penetration and the curvature of the portion 36, the dry wall material is held outwardly with its outer face pressed against the reinforced edge 24 to give a neat and attractive appearance.

At the bottom of Fig. 2 we have shown the manner in which our novel doorframe accommodates dry wall material 42 which is 41" in thickness. It will be noted that this thicker sheet does not penetrate as far into the pocket between the free edge 26 and curved portion 38, but that in this instance also the curved portion 38 holds the material 42 with its outer surface firmly in contact with the reinforced edge 26. In dot-and-dash lines the upper part of Fig. 2 also shows a sheet of material 44 which is /z" thick. The dot-and-dash line 46 indicates the extent to which this thickest sheet penetrates into the pocket between the curved portion 36 and reinforced edge 24. Here also the curved portion 36 holds the outer face in contact with the reinforced edge 24 so that the outer face of this thickest sheet 44 would assume the same position as that of the thinnest sheet 40.

Attention is directed to the fact that where our improved doorframe is utilized with any of these thicknesses of wallboard, the outer face of the wallboard always assumes the same position in snug engagement with the free edge of the doorframe. The thinner the wallboard the greater the extent to which it penetrates into the pocket between the curved portion and the adjacent reinforced edge. In each instance, however, the wallboard, or other dry wall construction, extends into this pocket a sufficient distance to provide a firm contact between the reinforced edge and the outer face of the wallboard.

In installing a wallboard type of wall on a metal door frame of the present type, the wallboard is forced into the pocket to the maximum extent and then is nailed in place on the supporting structure. It should be apparent, however, that the thinner sizes of wallboard will be spaced away from the supporting structure by a slight amount in the regions immediately adjacent the metal door frame and this is of no serious consequence since the wallboard is firmly held in place in the indicated positions within the pocket and is nailed to the supporting structure at a region that may be anywhere from 16 to 24 inches away. Thus the wallboard is inclined relative to the surface of the supporting structure by a relatively small amount in that it is spaced away therefrom a maximum of approximately inch over a distance of approximately 24 inches.

While we have illustrated and described our novel doorfrarne in association with wallboards of A", Vs", and /2" thickness, our invention is not limited to use with these particular thicknesses of wallboards, but may be adapted for use with dry wall constructions having other thickness variations. Although our novel frame is particularly designed for use with dry wall constructions, it is capable of use with conventional plaster, and in some instances the Wall at one side of the doorframe may be of plaster and the other wall of wallboard or other dry wall construction.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that We have provided a simple, inexpensive, yet effective, door-frame which automatically compensates for variation in thickness in dry wall constructions. Our invention is not limited to the particular details shown and described but includes all variations, modifications and equivalents coming within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A metal door frame of the type adapted to be applied to the front and side faces of a conventional door buck and comprising a door stop portion overlying the front face of said door buck, said door frame having corner portions and side portions connected to said corner portions, said door stop portion being attached to said corner portions on opposite sides thereof; each of said side portions comprising a substantially flat reinforced edge spaced a fixed distance from said door buck and comprising an outer plate portion extending generally rearwardly from said front face in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the associated side face of said door buck, an inner plate portion connected to said outer plate portion, and a shaped flange connected to the inner plate, said inner plate portion extending in a direction opposite relative to said outer plate portion, each shaped flange having a substantially flat free end portion abutting against said associated side face, and said flange being contoured to define, with said reinforced edge, a diverging mounting pocket opening rearwardly to accommodate any dry wall constructions of a thickness capable of being received in said pocket with said reinforced edge engaging and overlying the outer face of said dry wall constructions, saidframe-having means for attachment to said door buck to secure said metal door framein place thereon.

2. A metal door frame as defined in claim 1, wherein the substantially fiat free end portion is provided with openings for attachment to said associated side face.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,678,813 Jones July 31, 1928 1,841,670 Parker Jan. 19, 1932 2,581,750 Bursik Jan. 8, 1952 2,660,272 Walterman et a1 Nov. 24, 1953 

